ONE SHOT: MANUEL KILGER’S MARKET SQUARE SAMUS
This Saturday-stroll Samus is Manuel ‘schattenkino‘ Kilger’s submission to Girls: Fact and Fiction, an exhibition put together by Minneapolis gallery Light Grey Art Lab, featuring “100+ illustrators and designers who have portrayed their favorite women, heroines, and inspirations.”
Kilger’s Samus is available as a print here, or as part of an exhibition catalog of all the submissions here, where you can also find prints of the rest of the show. Find more of Kilger’s work at his portfolio site.
See more posts about: Manuel Kilger, Metroid, One Shot
ONE SHOT: BARNABY WARD’S SIPHONIC EMBRACE
Metroid fan art for an unfortunately long-passed iam8bit art show (meaning prints, presumably, are long-gone) by Barnaby ‘somefield‘ Ward, creator of the super essential (and now apparently exceedingly rare?) dreamscape comic Sixteen Miles to Merricks, much of which you can (thankfully) still read online here. [via Sugoi]
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ONE SHOT: METROID IN LEGO
Lego arteest Benjamin ‘Moose Greebles/Prof. Mangrove‘ Butwin does Metroid in brick form, which makes me think TT Games should start drafting that prospective design doc soon. [via Super Punch]
Previously:
- Retro Effect: a day in the studio with the makers of Metroid …
- One More Go: Metroid, from girl geek to Godwin's Law in a single …
- Listen: preview Metroid Metal's debut CD collection, 'Varia Suite …
- Video: Power Play/composer Hip Tanaka do Metroid music live
- Samus Yarn: Deadcraft's Metroid amigurumi
- Roll your own Mr. Saturn Earthbound toy, Metroid hat
See more posts about: Lego, Metroid, Offworld Originals, One Shot
ONE MORE GO: METROID, FROM GIRL GEEK TO GODWIN’S LAW IN A SINGLE TRIPLE-JUMP
I spent this weekend playing Super Metroid, start to finish. I thought the ending was a bit weak, but I loved the puzzles with foam and the grenades.
Psyche! Metroid doesn’t have foam and grenades. But you knew that. What does have foam and grenades is Shadow Complex, which is basically Metroid in 2.5D with some nice water effects, courtesy of the Unreal Engine. But you knew that too, probably cos you spent the past weekends playing it as well.
I should stress that I’m not saying Shadow Complex is just 2.5D Metroid to belittle it. Metroid is a member of that very small cadre of games which are damn near perfect, and finding a smart, innovative way to update it is a substantial game design accomplishment. I may not quite have bought into Shadow Complex‘s fiction, and I may have had issues with some of its platforming, but shooting people was bloody satisfying, the sense of exploration and mastery was well conveyed and the bosses were sensibly designed. First game this year I’ve dedicated a weekend to, start to finish.
Finishing it – or rather, ‘finishing’ it (I’m a long way off finding all the keycards, let alone tracking all the bullion and every upgrade) – made me want to go back to Metroid. To talk about how emotional just a corner of the map makes me. To rave about the brilliance of the sound design. To preach about the strength of games whose environments form one interlinked whole, rather than a random scattering of different zones. To my enormous surprise, however, I’m not going to talk about any of those things. (more…)
See more posts about: Metroid, Offworld Originals, One More Go
RETRO EFFECT: A DAY IN THE STUDIO WITH THE MAKERS OF METROID
The North Austin office-park studios of Metroid Prime creators Retro — should you be one of the few to make it past its reception area — are a warehouse-sized web-work of narrow labyrinthine hallways, intersections temporarily roped off to ward against your catching any glimpses of current-project concept art.
Take that alongside first-hand tales of the original founders’ predilection for near military-grade security systems, and it’s not hard — if you’re actively forcing the metaphor — to picture yourself inside the very game that put them on the map, and entertain the notion, at least privately, that maybe later, with the aid of some hard-won knowledge, you’ll be able to loop back and gain access to those previously out of reach areas.
A peculiar mix of brushed steel and magenta-painted drywall, the hallways are lined with ephemera of the studios past decade of output: promotional Prime posters autographed in silver by the overseas internal team with which Retro partnered, but it’s not until you hit the complex’s cafeteria wall that the studio’s true love for the franchise that fell in their lap becomes clear. There, you’ll find a wall-sized rendering of the dread Metroid itself, just above the water-cooler refills, displayed in pixels made of hand-painted NES cartridges.
The story of Retro is the story of Metroid — though that’s not how its story began — the two are now and forever fused. With the upcoming release of Metroid Prime Trilogy, all three of the GameCube and Wii Prime games collected on a single disc, what you’re really receiving is a glimpse at a nearly a full decade of the company where I’m standing. (more…)
See more posts about: Metroid, Offworld Originals
LISTEN: PREVIEW METROID METAL’S DEBUT CD COLLECTION, ‘VARIA SUITE’
Due for an official release September 8th, and coming live to the Penny Arcade Expo just a few days before: Metroid Metal‘s Varia Suite, the band’s first recorded collection of — well, as you might guess — metal remakes of various Metroid themes from throughout the game’s history.
Metroid Metal’s site has more information on both the album, and their PAX live performance, and the Silent Uproar record label is taking pre-orders for the album both in standard form, and in a bundle with an awesomely iconic T-shirt.
Previously:
- Video: Power Play/composer Hip Tanaka do Metroid music live
- Wii getting Metroid Prime triple-shot with remade Trilogy
- Well suited, well lit: First4Figures' ltd. ed. Phazon Suit Samus …
- One shot: Metroid by way of Miyazaki
- Samus Yarn: Deadcraft's Metroid amigurumi
- Roll your own Mr. Saturn Earthbound toy, Metroid hat
See more posts about: Listen, Metroid, Music, Offworld Originals
ONE SHOT: SAMUS ON A SPECTRUM
Metroid star Samus, done up by artist ‘Diver’ in ZX Spectrum impressionism, via PixelStyle, presumably taken from this Soviet Spectrum gallery.
See more posts about: Metroid, Offworld Originals, One Shot
WELL SUITED, WELL LIT: FIRST4FIGURES’ LTD. ED. PHAZON SUIT SAMUS
The latest in Offworld’s attempts to keep your desk as littered with plastic as mine: First4Figure’s Phazon Suit Samus, the latest in First’s officially licensed Nintendo (and THQ and Sega and Tecmo and Ubisoft) lineup.
Riddled with LEDs and, no joke, an “internal IC chip [that] allows for the lights to fade out slowly” when you settle in for bed, it’s as deluxe and pricey as you might expect: the limited run of 1500 comes with a tag of $225, but is ideal for the figure freak that has everything, including First’s four other Samus figures (on top of her Gunship and Metroid Prime Hunters‘ Trace). [via Tomopop]
Previously:
See more posts about: Metroid, Offworld Originals, Toys
E309: THE 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NINTENDO’S PRESS CONFERENCE
1.) Nintendo is going back to basics with more Mario
The overarching theme of this year’s E3 conference was striking a better balance between the new gamers Nintendo has been reaching out to for the past several years without alienating its long-standing audience.
For the latter category, then, they brought back Mario, with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a single-to-four-player classic sidescroller due this holiday season that brings in the ‘co-opertition’ elements it brought to Zelda: Four Swords to its other hit franchise.
Nintendo also announced Super Mario Galaxy 2, an extension of its 3D Wii debut that will more prominently feature his Yoshi companionship, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: March of the Minis, a version of its Mario puzzler series coming next Monday as a DSiWare downloadable, and a fall 2009 localization of its DS Mario & Luigi RPG: Bowser’s Inside Story, a Fantastic Voyage-esque game that sees the characters moving through Bowser’s body on the lower screen, mixed with Bowser’s own exploits on the screen above.
2.) Nintendo is revitalizing other franchises with new partners
Nintendo ended the conference on its hardest-core note, by announcing that Ninja Gaiden developer Team Ninja would be partnering with the company to develop Metroid: Other M: a third-party action based Wii followup to Retro Studios’ first person games, due out in 2010.
3.) Nintendo is not finished with creating and exploiting new hardware interfaces
Namely, the newly unveiled Wii Vitality Sensor, a small WiiMote-connected device that clips onto your finger to measure your pulse. Nintendo head Satoru Iwata explained that the company wants to be able to “visualize something otherwise invisible” — nervousness, focus — and possibly create new games that focus on relaxing, rather than stimulating, the player.
Nintendo also re-revealed the new MotionPlus sensor which gives the WiiMote greater precision with the upcoming sports mini-game collection Wii Sports Resort, due July 26th, and third party sports games like EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Grand Slam Tennis, and Sega’s Virtua Tennis 2009.
That also goes for Wii Fit, which will be getting its own expansion, Wii Fit Plus this fall with new workout activities, new minigames, and, most importantly, the ability to string exercises together without any interruption (as does older PC, Xbox, PS2 fitness trainer Yourself Fitness).
4.) Nintendo also wants to more tightly integrate with social networks
Like Microsoft announced yesterday with its Xbox 360 Facebook application, Nintendo also announced that its DSi handheld — equipped as it is with two on-board cameras — will also be able to natively integrate with Facebook to upload user photos directly to the service.
5.) Nintendo want to continue to cater to everybody
This was made clear from the start with their underlying and repeated catchphrase “everyone’s game”, and their diverse first and third party lineup.
Games showcased for the DS: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, a localization of create-your-own-microgame studio WarioWare: DIY, new Zelda adventure Spirit Tracks, gritty new Ubisoft IP adventure game C.O.P.: the Recruit, and a return of underdog Game Boy Advance RPG series Golden Sun, all for the hardcore. For the wider audience, James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion visual novel series, and fashion-based game Style Savvy.
And for the Wii: Square Enix’s open world adventure Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers, Sega and High Voltage’s first person shooter The Conduit, Capcom’s Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, and EA’s rail shooter sequel Dead Space Extraction.
New images and movies will be added to this post as they are released!
See more posts about: facebook, Metroid, Offworld Originals
WII GETTING METROID PRIME TRIPLE-SHOT WITH REMADE TRILOGY
Just announced by Nintendo for a late August release: Metroid Prime Trilogy, a three-pack set bringing together the first two GameCube Metroid chapters remade with true widescreen and Wii-mote control support, alongside Corruption, the third game in the series already available on Wii, for the cost of one game.
Keep your eyes on the Prime Trilogy site for more information.
Previously:
- One shot: Metroid by way of Miyazaki – Offworld
- Samus Yarn: Deadcraft's Metroid amigurumi – Offworld
- Video: Power Play/composer Hip Tanaka do Metroid music live – Offworld
- One shot: Dan Schoening's 'Screw Attack' Metroid montage – Offworld
- Roll your own Mr. Saturn Earthbound toy, Metroid hat – Offworld
See more posts about: Metroid, Offworld Originals
